Can You Hear Me?
by Wings-of-Icarus
Summary: AU, Ichigo x Fem!Byakuya- Ichigo, a student in his last year of high school, has recurring dreams. He dreams of a beautiful woman, walking away from him, always longing for her, reaching for her, unable to see her face. But one day, a student transfers into his high school. And this student is...? Will he finally reach his dream girl and find who she is?
1. Prologue

Can you hear me? The summer breeze wraps up my voice. It calls out to you, but you don't turn around. You keep walking, walking away from me, and all I can see is your back- getting smaller and smaller. All I can hear is silence. Its as if there is a wall between you and me. It's transparent, but unbreakable, and I can do nothing but watch as you get farther and farther out of my reach.

I don't know who you are. I don't know why I'm reaching for you so desperately. All I know is I need you. I wonder who you are. I see long raven hair, alabaster skin clothed in a pale blue summer dress. I feel a great sense of nostalgia, something lost long ago that I long for but don't recognize. I yearn for you.

Come back to me. Run into my arms, and I'll sweep you up into my arms and carry you off into the sunset. I'll do anything for you. Come back! Or at the very least, tell me who you are. I need to know. I need to know, so when I wake from the precipice of this dream, I can go find you. I will search for you, until the ends of the world.

As if you hear me, you turn. And I wait in anticipation, an impatient man, unable to wait to see who it is you are. And as you turn, slowly, your long raven hair whips back in the breeze. My breath is taken away. I don't get a clear glimpse of your entire face, but I see incredible silver-violet eyes. You are beautiful, and I am eager to see your entire face. I reach out for you.

But then I wake, and it is a dream. My hand is still outstretched, reaching for you in my dream. And I think that perhaps it might be better never to have dreamed of you than to awaken, grasping for a hand that might never exist.


	2. Chapter 1

Ichigo woke up, the image of silver violet eyes burned into his memory. They were intense, beautiful, captivating. He wasn't much of a romantic, but he could fall in love with those eyes. Maybe he already had, and that's why he kept dreaming about this girl. Maybe she actually existed somewhere, and they were soulmates or something, and their hearts were reaching out for each other.

"Or maybe", he groaned, realizing how cheesy he sounded, "I'm going crazy. This girl probably doesn't exist, and I'm spouting sappy shit about a figment of my imagination. At this rate, I'll turn into my dad."

He rolled out off bed, heading to the closet and rubbing the back of his neck. And just in time, too- his father kicked open the door, and dove for the bed with his usual, "GOOOD MOORRRNING IIIICHIIGOOOOO!" and a kick to go with it. The bed no longer had Ichigo in it, though, and as a result his father bounced off of it and slammed face first into the wall.

"Nice dodge! You're definitely my son!" Kurosaki Isshin gave his son a thumbs-up, and the young man just stared at him, eyebrow twitching in annoyance and shirt half off from his attempt to change in peace. It was a typical morning in the Kurosaki household.

"Oi, old man, get up off the floor. Ichi-nii, Yuzu says breakfast is ready." Karin poked her head into the room nonchalantly. "Hurry up or it'll get cold and you'll be late for school."

Breakfast, for once, was peaceful; Ichigo's dad still hadn't quite recovered from his bonding time with the wall, and Yuzu was a great cook, as always. Wanting the peace to last even the slightest bit longer, he ate his food quickly, said goodbye to both his siblings, and grabbed his bag. They sent him off with a smile, and Ichigo couldn't help but smile back.

When he arrived at school, straightaway out of nowhere Keigo popped up and charged at him. Reflexively, Ichigo clotheslined him. While Keigo was writhing in pain on the floor and being generally pitiful, he greeted Mizuiro and Chad, standing right behind where Keigo was. And it was Mizuiro who gave him the news that would slowly bring big changes to his life- although none of them were aware of it at the time.

"Did you hear that there's going to be a transfer to our class? Ishida-san told me, apparently it's going to be a girl!" The short, almost feminine boy was clearly excited.

Ichigo looked to Chad for confirmation. He got a nod from the large Mexican, affirming the truth of Mizuiro's statement. Not that he really had a reason to lie or anything. They slid open the door to the classroom and sat down.

"I hope she's pretty," Mizuiro said.

Ichigo snorted, and couldn't resist a jab. "Even with that appearance, you're a womanizer. You only really like older women though, isn't she supposed to be our age?" It was true. Mizuiro was pretty much indiscriminate about who he flirted with, although he was really only interested in older girls. And really, despite looking so girly, or maybe because of it, a lot of girls were attracted to him.

Mizuiro laughed, and in good cheer, replied shamelessly, "It doesn't matter if she's only a day older, as long as she is, I'm interested!" Chad shook his head in what could be called exasperation at the very typical behavior of their friend, and Ichigo just smirked.

"Oi, Kurosaki!"

"Kurosaki-kun!"

Two calls of his name had Ichigo turning around. When he did, he saw a busty (and slightly ditzy) redhead girl and a strict looking guy in glasses walking into the class. He immediately recognized them and greeted them.

"Oh, Ishida, Inoue! How's it going? You two still dating?"

Both Orihime and Ishida flushed, and awkwardly stammered until Tatsuki, nearby, took pity on them, and hit Ichigo. Orihime used to like Ichigo, a lot. But she'd confessed long ago and been turned down, and soon opened her eyes to other men. And one day when she was doing work in the classroom, she started talking to Ishida, the student council president at the time. They ended up liking each other and Ishida slowly integrated into their group.

That was last year, and they were still happily together. And of course, as the only couple in their group, everyone enjoyed teasing them from time to time. But to be honest, Ichigo sometimes felt jealous. Not because he liked Orihime, or anything like that. But he saw the way that Ishida tried to keep Orihime happy at all times, and the way that Orihime tried to take care of Ishida when he had too much work or his father was putting too much pressure on him. And he wanted something like that.

His group chatted together about mundane things, copying homework problems last minute or spoiling last night's television drama unintentionally to Tatsuki, who hadn't been able to watch it due to karate practice. (She smacked them all for that.) And soon enough, class started.

Ochi-sensei, chill as ever, walked into the class and slammed her hands on her desk.

"Listen up! We have a new student today. You all better treat her with respect!" She turned toward the door and called, "Hey! You can come in now!"

Sure enough, the door slid open. In walked a petite girl with dark hair, violet eyes, and white skin.

"My name is Kuchiki Rukia."


End file.
